Magnificent moths

Butterflies are easy to see, as they flit over the summer flowers. Moths, on the other hand, mostly fly at night - and we do not appreciate the variety around us. I put a moth trap out over nights in the summer.



Here are some of the catches - I take full responsibility for any taxonomic errors!
They have such great names:

Spurge hawk moth.

Garden Tiger.

 Jersey Tiger

Ruby Tiger.

Brimstone.

Yellow Shell.

Peppered Moth.

Wormwood Pug.

Marbled Green.

Oak Hook-tip.

Flame Shoulder.

Light Emerald

Pretty Chalk Carpet.

Garden Carpet

Common Marbled Carpet

Brown-line Bright-eye.

Common Rustic.

Rustic.

Green Arches.

Blair's Shoulder-knot.

Setaceous Hebrew Character.

Knot Grass.

 Straw Underwing.



 Large Yellow Underwing.

Tree-lichen Beauty.

Mottled Beauty.

Riband Wave.

Purple Clay.

Purple Treble-bar.

Straw dot.

Early Thorn.

Burnished Brass

Orange Swift.

Gold Spangle.

Small chocolate-tip.

A species of Footman - I know not which one.

One of the microlepidoptera - too small to have a common name - Oncocera semirubella

Ancylis sp.?

Mother of Pearl

And to disprove the rule that moths only fly at night - The Silver Y - many feeding on my lavender during the day, as well as a common light trap catch.

And a more familiar day-flying moth, not found in the laight trap, the Burnet - in this case the Six-spot Burnet.





Beautiful butterflies

The regrowth after the end of Spring cut provides knapweed and red clover - loved by the summer butterflies for the nectar.

Some species settle long enough to be photographed. The Meadow Brown is the most common - understandable, as its host plants are meadow grasses.

A Mazarine Blue - red clover is the host plant.

A Clouded Yellow male...

...and female.

And a Painted Lady.

As last year, the swallowtails flitted past.